Events

8th Grade Teacher Arrested In Ecstasy Selling Case

DENVER (CBS4)– Police in Denver have arrested an eighth grade science teacher who is accused of selling ecstasy to an undercover cop.

Jordan Marcowitz was arrested Wednesday night after he allegedly planned to meet and sell drugs to someone who was later revealed as an undercover officer at a gas station at Speer Boulevard and Zuni Street.

Marcowitz has been placed on administrative leave from his teaching position at Shadow Ridge Middle School.

Marcowitz is facing charges of possession and distribution of a controlled substance. The district attorney plans to formally charge him on Monday.

According to the arrest affidavit, Marcowitz, 31, was contacted by an officer over the phone asking to buy “molly,” which is also known as ecstasy, for $200.

Officers said they tracked Marcowitz from his home in Denver to a Shell gas station where the sale was made at a pay phone.

“We were just informed late last night that he had been arrested on a narcotics related charge,” Joe Ferdani with School District 12 said.

Officials with Adams 12 Five Star Schools placed Marcowitz on administrative leave while the case is pending. They were completely unaware that he was being investigated for selling drugs.

“I know that for any employee in the district, they go through a background check process and all staff are subject to a background check,” Ferdani said.

whose parent are you? I know this may sound a little strange but this is very concerning to my brother and he would like to know. so if you could please reply to my comment or email me at QueanOFMusic@gmail.com it would be hugely appreciated thanks!

my daughter is sydney williams. when i met him, i was kind of put off. she would tell me things about him that just didn’t sit right with me. to make more ironic is , we were talking about him this morning. i really didn’t think that he was ”teacher type”. i guess this is something that he had been doing for a while, and with volume. there’s no way that he would have alerted the police. very sad.

I am shocked and dismayed by all the hurtful comments that several of you students and parents are leaving. Jordan was a great teacher, and I guarantee that most of the parents and students who are saying mean things either a) never had him as a teacher or b) are terrible students or parents of students who should have been expelled. While I don’t know what his inner thought process was, I can only assume that part of what led Jordan into this situation was to supplement his low income teaching job because that was the only way he could afford to do what he loved. You should be ashamed of yourselves for judging someone you know nothing about. Mind your own business!

This is unbelievable this is wrong u better get fired from my school i dont want u as a teacher u dont deserve to b aroundany of us!! no wonder u told crazy weird stories u big creep i knew something was up u dont cuss and tell kids about weird things outside of school!!

1. learn how to spell.
2. He was an amazing teacher. You sound so ignorant. How does what he did make him a creep?? People like you are pathetic. Stop trying to say stuff when you don’t even know what’s going on.

How does this make him a creep? You are the ignorant one lala. For starters it show extreamly bad judgement. The fact he was a teacher says he spent 4 years in college and no doubt close to $80,000 on training for a career that he chose to flush down the toilet selling drugs. He will bever work as a teacher again. He will most likley never get a good job now becaue he might have a fleony on his record after the trial. Not to mention he is part of the problem with society. Getting people hooked on a potentially deadly drug. Ignorant indeed!

he’s my teacher this year or at least he was. he was such a amazing teacher, wheni heard this, this shocked me! he was by far one of the best teachers you can have, hes really a good guy but just ended messing up in the end.

first of all if you are going to call some one out on so called “GRAMMATICAL ERRORS”, perhaps you should take an english lesson yourself, sir. this man is a SCIENCE teacher, not an ENGLISH teacher…learning a basic understanding of grammar and spelling comes way before 8th grade science, i’m sorry to say.

This is my son’s teacher. I’m not surprzed to here this! He told me that he didnt like this teacher he was mean, cursed and would send him out of the classroom for no reason. I did contact the school about this and knew something was wrong when I spoke to my son’s other teachers and they all said that they dont have issues with my son. Please take this as a lesson. If your child tells you of strange things that happening at their school that you dont agree with contact the school as inform them of what you are being told. If more parents did take the time to do this more inappropriate teachers wouldnt get away with some of the stuff that they do. I am glad to see that this is now up in the air for him to be looked at more. Dont mistake what I am saying we have some AMAZING TEACHERS out their but just as in everything there is always a bad egg somewhere!

You Son Got Kicked out for a reason, Your Son needs to realize that cusing are just meaningless words, you just take it to far, and yea the other teachers are right, nothing is wrong, and so called strange things are called reality checks, i understand your consern with your son, but hes almost a high schooler, almost independent. but hes growing up and needs to know that theres material like that in life, but he dident rape any one, never was a perve, never was aagressive. he made a mistake, give him a break. if you made a mistake, wouldent you want a chance?

This man didn’t belong in any school. And, if you Efrain, had any kind if education you would know this. It’s sad to see that you attend this school and can’t spell!!! With that said, you might want to rethink your future with the school you attend.

I agree with Efrain Mr. Marcowitz was my 8th grade teacher and I am now in 10th grade. I remember kids that thought they were cool and could take advantage of teachers always getting on my nerves and Mr. Marcowitz knew that. Those are the kids that get kicked out of the classroom and then run home and say they did nothing, so there parents get mad even though there child did do something wrong. I learned so much from him, and he was very funny. I learned to love Chemistry because of him. His class was never dull. I went into honors next year, and now I am a promising student. The people that are writing rude comments about him are the lazy, loud, people that didnt like him because he was right. He gave us all reality checks on life. He may have not been fit for a middleschool teacher but he was ideal for a highschool. I dont like that he may or may not have done this but that does not change my opinion on him. I honestly wish him the best.

Marcowitz was such an amazing teacher, he never siezed to make his students laugh. I loved being in his class it’s such a shame that this happened to him. Because he is such an outstanding teacher, anyone who ad him was extremely lucky!!

I cant believe this!!!!! I new something was up, this guy has a problem he curses at kids and now hes a drug dealer!!!!!! That’s crazy. i go to shadow ridge middle school and i never EVER want this guy back at our school!!!

Okay, dude. He is an amazing teacher. He’s a good guy in general. Yes he cusses, so does everyone else. Everyone cusses, its meaningless words.
You do not even know this guy to even say anything about him. Drug dealer?
NOT everything you hear is true, young middle schooler.

Why not? he was a teacher and he was good at teaching. that was his job. He didn’t do anything wrong to his students. Yeah what he did wasn’t right but it shouldn’t have to involve you. Did you even know him? I hate when people try to get involved in stuff that doesn’t involve them at all.

Yes he does deserve it……he breaks the law. He is not an amazing person. Amazing people don’t need to use cuss words (no, cussing does not make you sound more mature), Amazing people do not share drunken party stories with impressionable young people who think that is cool. Amazing people don’t flush their career down the drain selling drugs. 31 selling drugs, cussing in a classroom in inappropriate given his position and the audience, and party stories tell me he has a problem with judgement.

Mr.Marcowitz was one of the best teachers i loved showing up to his class i learned and had FUN. Something NO other teacher could do. Yes he cussed talked about his life outside of school but that’s what made him a good teacher because he was a kid just like all his students, there was NEVER a time i wasn’t laughing while in his class. This wasn’t a real shock to me like it was to everyone else, he made a big mistake! I went and saw him like 3 times this year and now it’s sad to know my Favorite teacher is gone.

He was my teacher a few years ago. This is terrible to hear. He helped me through a very rough time in my life and I hate to see this happen. I always planned to go see him and I wish I would have. He was most definitely a great teacher. The juxtoposition between him and many other teachers is extremely abundant. Yes, he cussed but so do many other teachers! He did tell stories but it helped us learn about life; he went the extra steps in teaching. He helped improve my experiences at Shadow Ridge. He may have made a mistake as we all do but I hope all goes alright in the long run. Marcowitz is by far a very important person in my life.

Mr. Marcowitz was the best teacher anyone could ask for. For all you parents and current students complaining about him, its complete nonsense. Marcowitz was all about life lessons in his class, sure he cussed, but these are 8th graders we’re talking about, if you parents honestly think your kids dont cuss I believe its time for a reality check. Its not like this teacher even had the drug around the kids at the school either, so close your mouth. please and thank you.
I had the pleasure to have Marcowitz as a teacher 2 years ago, and he essentially wanted us to learn from his mistakes, sure this is an obstacle that he’s having to go thru, thank necessarily shouldnt have gone public, but everyone cant hate a teacher who knows how to educate who was faced against an issue that everyone faces at least once in your life.

“Marcowitz was all about life lessons “….let this be a lesson to you then.
“sure he cussed, but these are 8th graders we’re talking about”….yea 8th graders are obnoxious anyway and this is a bad example to set.
“Its not like this teacher even had the drug around the kids at the school either”….you don’t know that.

You will learn from this mistake…….if you become a teacher….don’t sell drugs on the side ‘else you flush your career down the toilet. He will never work as a teacher again.

It’s a damn mistake. He’s human. And no, he did not have the drugs around the kids “Drew”. I think as one of his students I would know if I were offered drugs or not. If you’re going to complain about someone you dont even know its complete BS. Way to judge, your parents raised you well.

Michelle,
I couldn’t agree with you more!
He is by far one of the best teachers and definitely my sons favorite teacher!
Because he was not afraid to tell students the mistakes he made does not make him a horrible teacher nor is he “unprofessional”.
I truly hope everything works out !

I would just like to say, he was one of the coolest teachers in the Shadow Ridge building. You didn’t even have to be in his class. He was one of those people who always walked down the hall with a smile on his face saying hi to everyone, familiar or not. He did bring something other teachers didn’t. I don’t think this mistake had anything to do with his teaching ability. i have many teachers now who do many of the same things so saying you could tell or that it didn’t seem right doesn’t seem like a fair statement to someone. He made a mistake like all humans do, and this is just another lesson us students can learn from him.

I totally agree with you. I saw him in the hallway many times and he always said hi to me. And I was hoping to have him next year but now that’s ruined😦 But he’s a human being just like all of us we ALL make mistakes live and learn people! Live and learn.
Mr.Marcowitz no matter what happens I will always admire you as an awesome teacher, you just made a bad choice but don’t let that rule your life.

I just would like to add this, I am a parent of two students whom have attended Shadow Ridge. My 10th Grade son had him when he attended shadow Ridge 2 years ago, this was the first time I met him at parent teacher conferences. My son talked VERY highly of him and his teaching skills, he enjoyed his class and learned a lot from him. My youngest son is now a 8th grade student whom has been a student of his this year. He also had nothing but the greatest respect for him and enjoys his class as well. Needless to say both of my sons were very saddened and shocked to hear this news. If he is find guilty, as I am sure he will be, I hope that he will get help for his problems as he is a great teacher. With help and if he has an addiction problem or what have you I hope he can seek the help he needs, I do not feel people should be punished for an addiction/disease for the rest of there lives he they get treatment. He is human, I feel sad for him and my kids. I hope he can teach one day again and use this experience to share with his students.

Lynne, Thank you not only for taking a human, respectful approach as a parent, but for recognizing that one ALLEGED decision or mistake does not make or break the worth or value of a teacher or a human in general.

Although Mr. Markowitz has been charged, he has not been convicted. The last time I checked, the burden of proof in America rested on INNOCENCE first – it’s unfortunate that so many forget this when they judge for themselves. Further, if any of you actually read the affidavit or the article itself you would note that in NO WAY is Markowitz suspected of having illicit substances in or around school or your children.

Set an example for your children and remember how to be adult, how to be human, and how to reserve judgment until you have the absolute facts in a situation. Until you do that, you are no better than the alleged criminal in question – a man who obviously had an extremely positive effect on many, many kids with whom he came in to contact.

You know,,, He was My Best Friend,,, We would always chat,,, You people need to understand that hes only human, and yeah he was hard on us sometimes, just learn that life isent easy and we make mistakes, don’t instantly convict him as a criminal, Ya he sold drugs, bad on his part, but give the man a break, hes amazing funny guy, He’s someones kid, and a great teacher, i wouldn’t of made it through 8th grade with out him, he helps lots of students, more good than bad. This is great man, you just have to know, him

I think all of his students should be REQUIRED to learn how to communicate in proper english, these are our future ditch diggers and restaurant dishwashers…..OMG, I would have been so embarrassed if I wrote like these kids do and they are in middle and high school? Holy Jesus!

I would just like to say on behalf of some former students.. This guy is a creep!! He has been this way for years!!! Asking young girls if they smoke weed or if they have boyfriends is NOT Appropriate. What is more disturbing is the fact the district can’t account for drug testing!! I could see how he is being described as such a “cool” teacher…

I would just like to say on behalf of the other 90% of former students.. Mr. Marcowitz was THE best teacher I ever had. Yes, the best TEACHER. Not friend. He made me want to be a teacher. He kept students’ attention with his humor. He was a real guy. He never judged other students like many of my other teachers did. He saw the best in all of his students and strived to help them succeed. I remember once when he had my mother and I stay after a presentation so he could tell my mom what promise I had🙂 I was (and still am) his Little Jewish Princess😀 Sincerely, “Swanny”

Okay go ahead check my locker! I bet you’ll find NOTHING in there besides pencils, water bottles, and paper. I am a STRAIGHT A student, in National Junior Honor Society, and on Honer Roll. And SO, I bet you’ve mad a TON of mistakes in your life also! He will always be a cool teacher to me. So what if he made a bad choice! Like I keep on saying were all human and we ALL make mistakes! WE LIVE AND WE LEARN!!! Stop making the man look like a criminal because he is not!!!😡

Mr. Marcowitz was one of the greatest teachers I’ve encountered. Period. He taught his students, and more importantly, he CARED about his students. He’s not a creep and he’s not some low-life. Maybe he doesn’t stick to the traditional text-book teaching style, but he always did his job. And for those concerned parents, you should be concerned for your children but not over this matter. There are worse evils in this world He would never try to harm any of his students. And yes, we don’t all have the same opinions, but as a former student, I am proud to have had him as my teacher.

He was my teacher back in 8th grade!!! It’s so sad to see this, he was such an inspirational teacher, I learned soooo much in his class! Yes his teaching methods were different but thats what made his class. He was an amazing teacher and a great person! He was not in any way bad at all, he didn’t hit on any of his student like some of you are implying and he wasn’t all about drugs in any way. He connected with his students by what they would talk about in class. He wasnt creepy either the reason you thought that was cause you didn’t know him as a teacher. I enjoyed having Marcowitz as a teacher. My prayers go out to Mr. Marcowitz

WE DO KNOW WHATS GOING ON!!!!!!!!!!! DUH LOOK AT THE WEBSITE!!!!!!!! He was my teacher!!!!!!!!!!! and i would no he was amazing and he does need to learn that what he did was wrong but i still admire him

Mr. Marcowitz was BY FAR the best science teacher at shadow ridge middle school. I know what he did was wrong, but people make mistakes…no matter how big his mistake was, he shouldn’t be judged. To hear some of you people that didn’t know him judge my 8th grade teacher like this is highly disturbing…so to all you people who didn’t know him personally, frankly your opinion doesn’t matter.

Ok, the guy was probably high on X when he was teaching, he broke the law in a BIG WAY, knew better but chose NOT to abide by the law. When you put yourself in an illegal drug situation you RISK BEING ARRESTED AND LOSING EVERYTHING YOU HAVE. The grammar and spelling of the above studens is just NOT even close to being acceptable, they should be ashamed. Do their parents EVER read stuff that they write in school? How are these kids going to compete with kids who really do “get it” and can write and spell the english language…..also, PROOF READ WHAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN before you hit “submit comment”, didn’t anyone ever teach you that? Apparently HE WAS NOT A GOOD TEACHER NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS ON HERE, GOOD TEACHERS DONT SELL X, Its just that simple! Take a look at this for what it really is, its actually very simple. He may have caused people to die using drugs adn I guarantee you it was not just X, think clearly people.

Another aspect that these kids are not getting is that when you are involved in illegal activity, it becomes a hook that someone can use to blackmale you i.e. I know you sell drugs and I have proof. If you don’t start selling meth I’m turning it over to the police. It is a slippery slope and eventually this guy MIGHT be so caught up in the web that it progresses into really bad horrible stuff. Pat Sullivan is a good example.

denvervet- I counted at least 10 spelling and grammar errors in your little diatribe. More importantly, it’s incredibly small of you to put down kids. You should exercise some judgement before hitting ‘submit’ in the future.

Oh, and I think IF he does his jail time and cleans his act up we should all give him a second chance but never within 500 yards of a school. Learn from this kids. Just because you like someone doesn’t automically mean they are a good person. This is unfortunate that this happened in your school, I feel terribly for the students.

I agree with Lynn’s comment! I have a son that attends Shadow Ridge and Mr.Marcowitz is his science teacher my son has the utmost respect for this
techer. He did make a bad choice, who hasnt. The difference is he is in the spot light because he is a school Teacher. Does this make him a bad guy? I dont thinks so, he just made a bad choice! And unfortuntaly everyone will suffer Mr.Marcowitz’s career who knows? And the kids at this time will have to learn from another Science teacher and not get the full benefit of what Mr.Marcowitz had to offer! Good people can make bad choices, I’m not here to judge him🙂

I absolutely agree with you! He was my brother’s teacher and when we went to parent teacher conferences He seamed like a really cool guy. And I wanted him as my teach next year but now sadly I cant. But people need to stop judging him! He made a bad choice so what? We all make bad choices! And for the people here who are making up untrue things about him just to join in on this matter need to STOP it.😡 Mr.Marcowitz was an awesome teacher and he helped A LOT of kids okay! So give the man some slack and STOP JUDGING HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am shocked because he was the one teacher in this school that got it regarding the kids because he didn’t coddle them. This school has done very little to prep these students for High School, and I told him that he was a “breath of fresh air” because he put the responsibility back on the students. It’s sad that a bright man and passionate teacher would be so incredibly stupid. I am glad he got caught because we do not need him around students if he is selling drugs.

Mr. Marcowitz was an AWESOME and AMAZING teacher. Yes, his style of teaching was unorthodox, but that’s what made him amazing and that’s what set him aside from other teachers that don’t get the students and their attention. He was a great Science Teacher. He obviously made an impact on alot of great kids. The fact that some of their spelling is not the best is the ENGLISH TEACHER’s problem, not Mr. Marcowitz, the Science teacher’s issue. Obviously you people that are ripping on him, have not had the opportunity to know him as the teacher that he truly was. I DO NOT at all condone this choice he made, which was in fact outside of school. I know that he is now paying his price and will continue to for many years to come. I hope that he will truly get the help he needs to recover from the decisions he made and the outside life he was living. Judging him as a teacher, he was one of the best without a doubt. We need to focus and worry about the ones in authority that haven’t yet been caught, the ones who continue to be around our kids that don’t truly care to be. I take the person who truly cares for and instills good skills in my children during class over the one who couldn’t care less if my kids learn or not and take their best to their home outside of school. There are many good teachers at Shadow Ridge that we have been blessed with. The problem is that there are also many still there that shouldn’t be, the ones that truly don’t care about children and teaching. The fact is that Mr. Marcowitz will be missed by many amazing kids and parents. Another example of how greatly drugs can destroy so much and affect so many. That is the sad reality. We pray for you and Thank You for all the many lessons, Mr. Marcowitz.

Wow, He was a amazing Teacher, how cares if he cursed he was funny, he was the only reason I wanted to go to school , and his story were so funny, He was my favorite and I think he was the favorite of every student in C100, I would like him to know that I think of him no different, people really need to get off his back, you don’t know what was happening in his life, he could have been forced to do this. If anyone knows when his court date is I would like to know, I would like to tell that all the kids love him and want him to come back, Thanks. You made School better for a lot of kids, and you helped kids through hard times.

Corrupt DEA where stealing drugs from evidence vaults and reselling them to cover extensive credit card debt.
They also are creating suspects by planting evidence just so that they can steal from them.
Given the choice of suspension or dealing with their debt most DEA are thinking outside the box.

No, No – Rabbi Frank isn’t totally correct or incorrect. While yes, we all know the nature of the police’s potential dislike of the jewish population, I believe it’s going to fanaticism to say hollywood. Many famous industry insiders are jewish.

He was my 8th grade teacher.I’m already out of high school now. This is hard to believe, it truly seems like we cant trust anyone, anymore. I do believe that people makes mistakes but gee, kids look up to there teachers they should be teaching kids about stay way from drugs. He is 31 now so come on grow up its his fault why his in jail no elses.

Can we all just agree that there is seriously something wrong with this school??? Every single one of the students that are defending him can’t spell or speak any sense?!! Even worse.. Look at the way most of the “He was a Great Teacher” parents are speaking?? Come on now… WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! This guy was teaching your children, and you think he was such a great person??? WOW!!

MARK There is nothing wrong with this school so leave the school out of it. There is some really terrific teachers, administrators, office staff. We also have a wonderful SRO. So LEAVE the school out of it!!!!!!

I truly am saddened by this story. And truly even more upset to read such ignorant comments by so many.
Yes, it is disappointing to hear that Mr Marcowitz was selling drugs, but it DOES NOT take away the fact that he was an amazing teacher that connected well with his students. He is my sons teacher and by far his favorite.
Unprofessional behavior? He is an open and honest teacher that spoke to his students about reality! Something many parents avoid!
SRMS is a great school with great students and teachers.
Elijah, you are very right!
Instead of being so mean, hateful and rude, we should take this as a learning and teaching experience.

How old are you? How incredibly ignorant are you? By the looks of your comments, I’d say under the age of 15 and incredibly naive. Jordan was an amazing teacher and an incredible person. Mistakes you may make in your life DO NOT DICTATE THE KIND OF PERSON YOU ARE. Jordan made a very bad mistake, and that’s it. Anybody on here calling him a horrible person hasn’t got a clue. Do you even know him? Have you ever talked to him or taken a minute to learn from him? Drew, your comments make me laugh, you ARE PATHETIC. AND FOR ALL THE PARENTS READING THIS THAT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH CUSSING, GET WITH THE PICTURE. YOUR ANNOYING, LAZY AND UNINTELLIGENT CHILDREN ARE ALREADY VERY AWARE OF THESE WORDS. BEING A BIT INFORMAL IN A CLASSROOM ACTUALLY LENDS ITSELF TO STUDENTS CARING ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE LEARNING. Any parent whos kid complained about Jordan, chances are your kind was lazy, distracting and immature. Take a closer look, you parents are more ignorant than some of these kids writing on here. Show some compassion to someone who recognizes their mis-doings and has never hurt a person in their life. WE ARE HUMAN AND WE MAKE MISTAKES, NO ONES LIFE SHOULD BE RUINED BECAUSE OF THIS.

Everybody dissing Marcowitz can F*** OFF! Great guy AND teacher! Ill be keeping up on Jersey Shore for u Marcowitz! Best teacher ever, a;ways understood the students and he was one of the rare few you could go to for advice on literally ANYTHING!

Marcowitz was a man that really cared for his students and prepared them for the challenges of highschool. I recently graduated from Thornton High School and am very sad to hear this about Marcowitz. I would totally party with Marcowitz once he gets out of prison or whatever sentence he got.